reluctant
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin reluctans, present participle of reluctare, reluctari (“to struggle against, oppose, resist”), from re- (“back”) + luctari (“to struggle”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
reluctant (comparative more reluctant, superlative most reluctant)
- (now rare) Opposing; offering resistance (to).
- 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.108:
- There, breathless, with his digging nails he clung / Fast to the sand, lest the returning wave, / From whose reluctant roar his life he wrung, / Should suck him back to her insatiate grave [...].
- 2008, Kern Alexander et al., The World Trade Organization and Trade in Services, p. 222:
- They are reluctant to the inclusion of a necessity test, especially of a horizontal nature, and emphasize, instead, the importance of procedural disciplines [...].
- 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.108:
- Not wanting to take some action; unwilling.
- She was reluctant to lend him the money
Synonyms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
not wanting to take some action
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Further reading[edit]
- reluctant in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- reluctant in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- reluctant at OneLook Dictionary Search